'Quid Pro Joe': Biden Faces Hecklers In New Hampshire

With the Democratic primaries rapidly approaching in New Hampshire on Feb. 11, candidates are making their way around the traditionally crucial state for presidential hopefuls. Former Vice President Joe Biden had a particularly tough crowd during his second New Hampshire rally in Milford, where we was confronted by a group of vocal protesters.

Not long after he began speaking, Biden was shouted down by individuals calling him “creepy” and a “pervert,” according to the Washington Examiner. Others called him “quid pro Joe” and mentioned the unfounded claims that he and his son, Hunter Biden, were engaged in political corruption in Ukraine.

Later, Biden was confronted with a man who told him that “you touch kids on video, and women. We don’t need another old, white man running for president.”

“This isn’t a Trump rally,” Biden replied, to which the man shouted, “don’t touch kids, you pervert!”

Biden was clearly taken aback by the abrasive comments delivered during what he no doubt expected to be an event filled with his supporters.

The presidential hopeful’s startled and strained reaction here, and during past encounters with hecklers, could be seen as a bad omen.

In one particularly unusual moment, Biden challenged a man in Iowa to a push-up contest after being questioned on his physical fitness. He has also since said that he would not comply with a Congressional subpoena if it requested testimony about his son’s time with Ukrainian energy company Burisma. More recently however, Biden has changed his stance and said he will comply with a subpoena.

Biden’s seeming inability to handle these types of hecklers belies a type of political statesmanship that has become increasingly outmoded in the age of Donald Trump and the so-called alt-right. For better or worse, political discourse is now more focused on confrontation and emotional exchanges – creating an environment Biden will likely struggle in if he ends up winning the Democratic nomination and has to go head to head with Trump and his supporters.

That’s not the only problem facing Biden. Although it appears that there is no evidence to back up accusations of criminal activity by Hunter Biden in Ukraine, Trump and his mouthpieces have spread such a narrative. The campaign might have had a few takers if the heckler behavior in New Hampshire is any indication.

Biden will have to be prepared to handle hecklers if he were to outdo other Democratic challengers and face off with Trump. He will have to learn to face the Ukraine charges head on if he cannot distance himself from it.